Stretchable footwear



June 1963 P. E. HIESTAND ETAL 3,093,916

STRETCHABLE FOOTWEAR Filed June 20, 1955 INVENTORS PRESTON E. HI ESTANDEUGENE V. Mu s ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,093,916 STRETCHABLEFOOTWEAR Preston E. Hiestand and Eugene V. Mills, Princeton, Wis.,assignors to Handcraft Company, Inc., Princeton, Wis, a corporation ofWisconsin Filed June 20, 1955, Ser. No. 516,576 1 Claim. (Cl. 36--9)This invention relates to footwear, and more particularly to astretchable slipper adapted to fit a range of foot sizes.

In general, the invention resides in a slipper-type article of footwearformed of a unitary piece of stretchable fabric formed to provide a footcovering having a foot opening, but wherein the article is not preshapedto conform to the foot of the wearer. On the contrary, the slipper ismade flat with both ends of substantially identical shape andconfiguration, but of such material and construction that it may beplaced on the foot with either end at the toe or heel and readilyconform to the foot with a neat, snug over-all fit.

Briefly, an elongated knitted strip of suitable stretchable fabric isfolded at one end along its medial line and the folded strip ispresented to a conventional combination stitching and cut-off machine tosew seams trausversely of the fold line and to sever the strip at theseams into separate slipper members. .The seams are formed in a mannerto bind the edges of the fabric and also to permit stretching of thescam in the direction of its length.

The foregoing folding, sewing and cutting operations are repeated untilthe entire strip has been sewn into slipper members. i

The sewn slipper members are then turned inside out so that the edgesopposite the fold line form an opening through which the foot may beinserted. In order to assure satisfactory retention of the slipper onthe foot when worn, it is preferred to provide a band of elasticmaterial around the foot opening, and in the embodiment disclosedherein, a border of elastic material is crocheted to the edges of thefoot opening in a manner to contract the opening to less than itsoriginal size. The elastic material can be applied by hand-crocheting orby machine. The slipper then assumes a generally canoe-shaped appearanceand may be placed upon the foot with either end at the toe or heel. Thestretch of the material, combined with the stretchable seams and theelastic member at the edges of the foot opening, assures that theslipper will conform snugly to the shape of the foot of the wearerwithout causing any discomfort.

The slipper may be embellished by attaching thereto various ornamentalitems, such as small seashells, spam gles, beads, etc.

In general, the ornamental items are spaced around the foot opening andbelow the elastic edging material and secured to the article while in astretched condition by a concealed, substantially inelastic filamentsuch as a strong nylon thread.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a practical articleof footwear that will fit any foot within a substantial range of footsizes.

Another object is to provide an article of footwear which is attractivein appearance, of simple construction, and extremely easy and economicalto produce.

A further object is to provide an article of footwear characterized bybeing wearable with either end at the toe or heel of the foot.

A still further object is to provide an article of footwear thatoccupies little space and is readily washable when soiled.

Still further objects and advantages will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art as the description pro- 3,093,916 Patented June 18,1963 ICE ceeds in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view of a strip of knitted fabric employed inmaking the article of footwear constituting the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the fabric of FIG. 1 foldedalong its longitudinal medial line;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the folded strip of FIG. 2, showingthe first transverse seam sewed thereacross with the adjacent endportion severed from the strip and the strip extending in a directiontoward the left from the point of sewing;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the main body portion ofthe strip extending toward the right of the point of sewing, and withthe second transverse seam completed and the slipper member severed fromthe strip;

FIG. 5 illustrates the folded strip extending toward the left away fromthe point of sewing, with the third transverse seam' completed and agenerally hourglass-shaped piece of waste material severed {from thestrip;

FIG. 6 shows the slipper member of FIG. 4 after it has been turnedinside out;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the slipper member of FIG. 6 aftera border of elastic material has been added around the foot opening;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view illustrating the means and methodemployed in maintaining the foot opening stretched while applyingornamental devices to the slipper member of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 9-9 of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the decorated slipper as it appears on thefoot of the wearer.

FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of an elongated, continu- 'ous strip 2 ofknitted fabric employed in making the article of footwear of thisinvention. Preferably, the material is knitted from 3 strands of 2-plydenier (semidull) conventional stretch-type nylon or other suitable yarnso that the knitting yarn is of about 600 denier. The knitting is doneon a machine which produces a longitudinally ribbed fabric of athickness of the order of about one-eighth of an inch and characterizedby a twoway stretch, i.e., being stretchable both transversely andlongitudinally. The edges of the strip are parallel and substantiallystraight, but the edges and ribbing may be given a slight wavyappearance, depending upon the shogging action which the knittingmachine may be adjusted to produce. The edges of the strip are definedby a non-raveling selvage.

The preferred yarn is 600* denier, although other aggregate deniers maybe used. For example, in a childs slipper, 2 strands of Z-ply 100 denieryarn may be used to provide a fabric that is somewhat lighter. Aggregatedeniers above 600 tend to make the finished article too stiff.

The strip 2 is preferably knitted to a width of about 6 inches on a6-cut machine (6 needles to the inch) but it could be knitted on a S-cutor 7-cut machine. As stated, the material is knitted to a width of about6 inches and of any desired length compatible with convenient handlingduring subsequent finishing operations. After knitting, the fabric strip2 is finished by conventional scouring, dying and drying operations. Asoftener is preferably applied to the material during the dying process,as is also conventional. During the scouring, dying and drying of thefabric strip 2, it shrinks in width about 25% and about 33% in length.Thus, the width of the strip material 2 employed for making the presentarticle is only about 4 /2 inches. This width is preferred since it issuitable for making footwear that seamS' to form a separate slippermember 12.

will fit most foot sizes, but it may be varied more or less, if desired.

To form the stretchable article of footwear contem- -'plated by thisinvention from the strip =2, "a portion of one end of the latter isfolded along its longitudinal medial line to forma folded strip portiondefined by superimposed side panels joined integrally along a bottomfold line 4 and having adjacent free edges 6. The

end of the'thus folded strip portion is presented to the needle (notshown) of a conventional sewing and cutoff machine with the stripextending avway from the needle toward the left and is first stitchedtransversely,

"as shown at 8 in FIG. 3, and the extreme end portion 9 *of the strip issimultaneously severed closely adjacent the seam 8 by a conventionalcutter attachment (not shown). Preferably, the seam 8 is formed by anovercast Z -ply-or 3-ply chain-stitch, which binds the edge and (right).The seamed end is placed in registration with one end of a gauge boardconvenient-to the needle, and the operator determines from the boardwhere the second seam should be located by placing a finger at theapproximate point as .the guide, and then presents the strip to'theneedle to sew a second seam 8' (FIG. 4) across the folded strip.

'During the formation of the seam '8', the material is again severedfrom the folded strip outwardly of the After the member 12 has been cutfrom the strip, the operator again reverses the strip, folding itcarefully so that its edges 6 are even and its free end extends to theleft and sews a third seam 8" closely adjacent the end of the strip fromwhich'the member 12 was severed (FIG. During this step the scrap end 10is cut from the strip 2 close toseamb", as was end9 of FIG. 3, thusreducing Wasteto a minimum. The step described in connection'with FIG. 4is then repeated to form asecond slipper member, and so on. Thus, theoperator need only continue to fold the strip as it is being used up,

and sequentially reverse the direction of the main portion of the striprelative to the needle and pass the strip transversely through thesewing-cutting machine to produce successive slipper members 12 untilthe whole strip has been converted into slipper members. It will beobserved from the drawings that the seams 8, 8' and=8 are all ofsubstantially the same length.

While an overcast chain-stitch is preferred, such is not absolutelyessential since a suitable lock-stitch may be used to sew the seams.

It is preferable, however, that a'form of stitching be used whichpermitsthe transverse seams to stretch in the direction of their length.

Preferably the scams 8, 8, etc., are bowed or curved outwardly away fromeach other and are so configured that the fold line 4 and the free edges6 are of about the same length. In any event, it is contempl'ated'thatthe seams be of about the same shape, neither of them definingspecifically ra'toe or heel-shaped portion.

The longitudinal spacing between the seams 8 and 8' is determined by thedesired size of the finished article. For a size of slipper to'fit afoot of 9 to 11 hose size, for example, the flat article of FIG. 3should be about 8 /2 inches over-all in length- 'After severance of theslipper member .12 from the folded strip of material, it is turnedinside out'through the foot opening defined by the free edges 6 to thusplace the seams 8 and 8' on the inside of the article as shown in FIG.6.

The next step in the production of the stretchable slipper is thecrocheting of a resilient border 14 around the foot opening defined bythe edges 6, as shown in FIG. 7. The crocheted border 14 may be appliedmanually or by machine and is preferably formed of a continuous strandof elastic material which may be covered with any suitable decorativefilm or Wrapping. An elastic gold wrapped gimp has been found to be verysatisfactory from both a functional and ornamental View. In crochetingthe gimp border 14 to the free edges 6 of the slipper member, thematerial is secured to the edges 6 at spaced positions 16 by beingpassed through the fabric and in the crocheting step that portion of thegimp between the spaced positions 16 is looped upon itself in awell-known manner to form an attractive edging around the'foot opening.During the crocheting step, the gimp material contracts the foot openingdefined by the free edges 6 of the fabric. Thus, the foot opening in thearticle, after crocheting the border thereon, is somewhat smaller thanthe original opening in the article shown in FIG. 6. Also, the foldline-4 and the edges 6 of the article assume a slightly upwardly curvedshape, best shown in FIG. 7 so that the slipper then assumes a generallycanoe-shaped appearance and may be placed per opening to stretch thesame to substantially the size of the opening before application of thegimp border. The board 18 thereby holds the opening and the free edgesof the fabric stretched the desired amount and during this timeornamental items 20' are secured to the'slipper 'at spaced positionsaround the foot opening. The ornamental devices, which may be shells,spangles, or other elements, are secured to the fabric of the slipper bya strong thread 22 of substantially inelastic nylon or the like.Preferably, the thread 22 is manually worked through the body of thefabric '2 by an ordinary needle between the positions at which theornaments 20 are secured, so that the thread 22 is concealed within thebody of the fabric 2 and extends between those positions insubstantially taut but untensioned condition. After the ornaments 20have all been secured in place, the board 18 is removed, whereupon thegimp border 14 causes the "foot opening to contract to the size of FIG.7 and the ornaments 20 assume positions somewhat closer together thanshown in FIG. 8. In this condition the thread 21 is quite loose betweenthose positions.

The fabric 2 may be white or dyed any desired color 7 and the ornamentalitems may be of any desired nature and/or'cont-rasting color, or may beomitted entirely if desired. The article thus described may obviously beproduced from a long strip of fabric at low cost and, due to its simpleconstruction, may be produced in quantity at relatively high speeds.

While a single specific embodiment of the invention and method have beenshown and described herein, it is to be understood that manymodifications in types of material used and procedural steps may beresorted to within the scope of the appended claim.

We claim:

As a new article of footwear a strecthable slipper to be worn in lieu ofa shoe, comprising: a pair of substantially flat elongated panels oflongitudinally and transversely stretchable fabric having outwardlycurved extremities and being of uniform width between said extremitiesand disposed in confronting relation, means joining said panels togetheralong at least one of their longitudinal edges, the oppositelongitudinal edges being free to define a foot opening, and stretchableseams of substantially similar configuration and length extendingtransversely of said panels and interconnecting the same adjacent theirextremities from the ends of the joined edges to the ends of the freeedges, said fabric being sufficiently stretchable to enable said articleof footwear to fit a range of foot sizes, with either of saidextremities conforming to the toe end of a font, a plurality ofornamental elements secured to said panels adjacent said free edges atpositions spaced therealo-ng and around the foot opening, saidornamental elements being secured to said panels by a substantiallyinelastic continuous threads concealed within the body of thestretchable fabric, the length of said thread between said portionsbeing greater than the distance between said positions when said articleis relaxed so that said foot opening can be stretched in placing saidarticle on a foot without breaking said inelastic thread.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,841,518 Bellak Jan. 19, 1932 2,001,293 Wilson May 14, 1935 2,252,315Doree Aug. 12, 1941 2,274,085 Mitulski Feb. 24, 1942 2,335,210 GuinzburgNov. 23, 1943 2,400,692 Herbert May 211, 1946 6 (2,467,237 Sherman eta1. Apr. 12, 1949 2,469,708 Alexander May 10, 1949 2,603,891 Cohn July22, 1952 2,641,004 Whiting et a1 June 9, 1953 2,679,117 Reed May 25,1954 2,688,810 Baumann Sept. 14, 1954 2,848,885 Goodman Aug. 26, 19582,896,339 Rabinowitz July 28, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 341,126 Italy June112, 1936 605,825 Germany Nov. 19, 1934 OTHER REFERENCES American CottonHandbook, by Gilbert R. Merrill and Alfred R. Macormac, at pages 83 and84; published by Textile Book Publishers, Inc., New York, copy 1949.(Copy available in Division 2 1.)

Textile Fibers, by Mauersberger, published by John Wiley and Sons, NewYork, 1947 at pages 251 and 7 11. (Copy available in Division 211.)

Federal Standard Stock Catalogue, section IV (part 5), FederalSpecification for Stitches; Seams; and Stitching, No. DDDs-75 1; March4, 1930, pages '70 and 71. (Available in Division 24.)

